Your calendar is a powerful tool to simplify your life, not something to dread looking at.

Most people I know complain about their calendar as if they have no control of it. This is yet another false belief. They moan about meetings their boss, co-workers, or clients schedule that disrupts the things they need to do.

The truth is we all have others who are vying for our time and attention—regardless of our role.

Until you learn to reclaim your calendar, you will always be at the mercy of others.

Here are a few suggestions to help get you started:

• Plan your week before the week begins. People often complain about a lack of time when their lack of focus is the real culprit. You can’t blindly rush into work on Monday, spend your week spinning a thousand different plates, and expect to have a significant impact.
• Group meetings back-to-back. Unproductive people leave gaps in their calendars to ensure they are not running late. That is not a scheduling problem, that’s a discipline problem. Observe lawyers, doctors, or any senior executive—they all group meetings back to back, and in smaller increments. It forces people to get to the point.
• Stack similar activities together. We gain speed and efficiency when in rhythm. Hold all your internal huddles on the same day. Stack team one-on-one meetings on the same morning. Dedicate a block of time for new business prospecting. Schedule a power day of client meetings. Eliminate wasted time jumping between unrelated tasks.
• Fill gaps proactively. Everyone has gaps in their calendar. How are you filling them? Surfing the web? Checking social media? Effective leaders are proactive. Make a list of those people you must contact with each week. Leverage the white space in your calendar to follow-up.
• Limit Email. Email is NOT an IM session (instant message). High-impact work requires a focused mind. Check email 5 times a day, once in the morning, before and after lunch, once late afternoon and once in the evening. You can also check email as a gap filler in between meetings.
• Move things up, not out. Schedule changes occur, it’s not something to get upset about. When having to reschedule, suggest meeting sooner rather than later. Proactively suggest a date/time that begins to align your calendar with #2 and #3 above. If I have a Thursday meeting that needs to be rescheduled, I suggest moving it up to Tuesday or Wednesday—it works 90% of the time and increases client satisfaction.
• Dedicate clean-up time. Every week something falls through the cracks—regardless of the reason. Block time on your calendar to clean-up loose ends. Personally, I block time on Friday—dedicated time to follow-up on outstanding action items and prepare to be at my best for the following week. That makes me happy heading in the weekend.

Here’s the #1 question I get when I introduce this topic: “Hey Riv, I love what you suggest but there are many client and internal meetings I don’t control. What should I do?”

The answer is simple: Exhibit leadership!

There is nothing preventing you from putting into practice 1, 4, 5, 6, and 7 above. Start there. Then proactively approach your boss, team or client and reschedule for a time that is more convenient—for you. Every team I’ve trained on this topic implemented changes and each one has said they can’t believe how much more time they have.

Want help? Schedule a personalized PowerWeek workshop for your team. This summer I will also be launching an updated version of my PowerWeek System online training which I am so excited about. I am including a ton of extra tools that I can’t wait to share with you. Let me know if you want to be notified when it becomes available. In the meantime, remember this: Others don’t hijack your attention, you allow them to. Reclaim your calendar!